Abstract

Torque is a moment that tends to twist a member and generally it

produced torsion. By doing this experiment, the relationship between torque
and degree of rotation can be determined and presented graphically to
investigate some other parameters such as shear strain(), shear stress()
and modulus of rigidity(G). The modulus of rigidity that is determined from
the slope of graph shear stress versus shear strain is then compared to the
theoretical value which is 70Gpa. Moreover, torsion experiment also can be
used to determine the characteristic of the material used and then we can
easily specified the group of the material either brittle or ductile based on it
fracture surface. In order to perform this test, the specimen is mounted onto
a torsion testing machine and the twisting moment is applied until break or
failure.

Introduction

Torsion generally occurs due to twisting moment or torque that is

subjected to a shaft or a member. When external torque is applied to a
member, it creates corresponding internal torque within the member and
also produces a distribution of stresses. Twisting moment or torque is the
product of tangential force multiplied with the radial distance from the
twisting axis.
In order to determine the characteristic or properties of materials, torsion
test is very important. While in mechanical world, this area of research is
important as engineers need to know the strength of materials they are
going to use, the ability of the materials to withstand highest torsional force.
Besides, torsion test also conducted to test the applicability of the material in
field. It is very common for all kind of materials experience torsion in various
operations, such as a drive shaft and twisted drills axles. This kind of
operations are obviously need very high strength and also able to withstand
torque over and over.
In our set up, we were to identify modulus of rigidity (G), maximum shear
stress (), shear strain () and their relationship. Comparison with
theoretical value was also done in order to understand and determine the
characteristic of our specimen. The basic formula used for this test is:

=
Where:
= Angle of twist

TL
JG

T = Torque
L = Length of the specimen
J = Polar moment of inertia
G = modulus of rigidity

Figure 1 : Torsion of a solid bar.